It's Allure's Annual Nudes Issue: Meet the Actresses Who Bared All

"This is the first interview I've ever done where I'm not wearing panties. Lucky you," says Kristen Bell. She has just stripped down for Allure's annual nudes shoot (in the May issue of Allure, on newsstands now). And so did three other courageous actresses: Minnie Driver, Jenna Dewan Tatum, and Nia Long. "I was a little bit nervous, but I actually really love my body—it's done amazing things for me," says Driver of the experience. "There's such a grace to being confident in who you are." We asked the women what it feels like to disrobe for America.

JENNA DEWAN TATUM

Ask Jenna Dewan Tatum about nudity and she'll tell about her first—and second and third—trip to a strip club with, of all people, Janet Jackson. "I danced with Janet Jackson, and we toured around the world. I don't know what it was, but she just really liked going to strip clubs," she says. "She's probably like, 'Thanks, Jenna, for telling the world I go to strip clubs.'" Past experiences with nudity aside, stripping down for Allure less than a year after having a baby presented its own set of challenges for the 33-year-old star of Witches of East End. "I hope I worked out just enough," she says. As for her husband, Channing Tatum, "Chan was really on board with it—he knows I'm very comfortable in my own skin."

What surprised you about the shoot? "It's really funny, the direction you get when you're doing this photo shoot. It's like, 'Show more side boob. Oh, can you relax your fingers while you're covering your nipple?'" she says. "And don't show the cooch. These are words I will never hear again."

How often are you nude? "I'm on the 'a lot' side of the scale."

What shaped your attitude on nudity? "You sort of lose all modesty as a dancer. I also think it's just the way I came out. I've always been free-spirited, and it was hard to keep clothes on me as a kid."

Anything embarrassing? "I was doing a dance recital. I'll never forget it was to Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations." I did a shimmy, and the neck [of my costume] broke off. I flashed the whole damn audience!"

What's your workout these days? "My trainer, Jen Johnson, is amazing, but she kicks my butt. She makes me do these plank exercises. I hate them. They're awful. But they work."